Peoria Standard

Illinois state Sen. Dave Koehler thinks it's essential that residents continue to be heard about the issue of map redistricting.

"We go through a process of holding hearings, getting public input," Koehler (D-Peoria) told CentralIllinoisProud.com. "People want to express their opinions in how districts should be made, and it's very important to keep communities that relate to each other intact."

With U.S. Census Bureau officials saying that the data usually provided as part of the process won't be available before a June 30 deadline, the debate over the best way to complete the once-in-every-decade task has intensified.

No matter what happens, Koehler said voters need to continue to have a voice on the issue.

"It's a process of getting public input and putting the map together," he said.

Rep. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) is among Republican lawmakers sharing Koehler's view about having more public input.

"This is our seventh redistricting hearing in the last week, and while participation has been limited to short notice, there's been a couple of important scenes that have been repeated by witnesses from across the state and across the political spectrum," Rezin said during a recent Senate Redistricting hearing for Kankakee and Will counties. "The first is transparency. Witness after witness has been critical of the lack of transparency in this process."

With being in the legislative minority, Republicans have proposed legislation known as the People's Independent Maps Act that they believe will make redistricting a fairer process.

The measure would remove lawmakers from the job of redrawing maps and give the state Supreme Court the power to appoint 16 independent citizen commissioners to a redistricting commission within 30 days of passage.

"What we've heard from witnesses is that if you want true engagement, then slow the process down," Rezin said. "There's no need to rush and pass maps with inaccurate data by June 30 when the real constitutional deadline is not until October."

Legislative redistricting occurs every 10 years, soon after the census population data is updated. As it is, the majority legislative party sets the new map.